


Incapability

by KibaSin



Series: Past Time [47]
Category: InuYasha - A Feudal Fairy Tale, Naruto
Genre: Drama, Emotional Manipulation, F/M, One Shot, One-Sided Relationship, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-29
Updated: 2013-11-29
Packaged: 2018-01-03 00:12:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,898
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1063369
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KibaSin/pseuds/KibaSin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Her worst enemy says something that strikes her deeply and for the briefest of moments she wonders if she should believe him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Incapability

**Disclaimer:** I do not own any material belonging to the respective owners of _Inuyasha_ or _Naruto._

"You're wrong," she growled, allowing her energy to flow through her body.

The hanyou before her smirked, before replying differently than she'd expected, "You've learned the abilities of this village quite quickly, that you have, little miko."

"Shut up," the miko hissed, her hands coming together. As quickly as she could, as she carefully kept watch of the tentacles swarming around her, she made the seals needed. Then, bringing her hand up to her mouth, she directed the blast of wind toward her enemy, watching as he moved to one side, barely escaping the roaring current. However, its impact with the sand sent the golden particles flying into the air, blinding her for a moment, as she listened for any sign that her enemy would attack.

"Yes, you have gained much from this strange new world, haven't you?" he chuckled. "But nothing that wasn't expected of you, since you're quite determined to defeat me. Especially now that you believe you must, separated from your friends as you are. Have you ever thought of taking up my offer?"

"I will never  _join_  you, Naraku!" she hissed back, taking another step back. She knew that he was driving her farther and farther away from the village, but what he did not realize was it took days to travel out of Suna. He'd have to keep this up for longer than she believed he could, and by then help would have arrived, she was sure of it.

His eyes caught sight of the sun gleaming off the pretty new band she wore around her neck. A smirk lifted onto Naraku's lips, before he thrust a few tentacles toward the miko, watching as she managed to dodge; yet her feet slightly stumbled underneath her. She was beginning to tire, and none of the new training she'd gotten, nor the things she'd learned to do with her massive amount of energy would be able to help her then. "What a pretty trinket they gave you?" he mocked. "Did that little redhead you find so fascinating give it to you?"

Something dripped from Naraku's voice, but she couldn't tell what it was as she hissed through her teeth, pulling out another kunai, cloned it, and sent them all flying at her opponent. However, the green tentacles surrounding him rose as a shield, protecting him from the projectiles. "You know full well what it means," she said through gritted teeth.

"Oh yes, you protect Sunagakure." He sneered, "Pathetic really, for them to allow you to become a shinobi of their village. That boy must have lost his mind when he stepped into your presence, but that's not surprising. Tell me, did you manage to somehow make another subjugation necklace and placed it upon him just so he would agree to allowing you to be taught?"

"I would never do that," she snapped. "It would be treason against my Kazekage."

" _Your_  Kazekage, miko? I do not think he is  _yours_ ," Naraku snickered. "After all, though you may see him as thus he will never be able to love you." His smirk widened a bit, knowing just where to strike her. "After all, who could ever love a pitiful miko such as you, Kagome- _chan_? Certainly not him, and certainly not…  _Inuyasha_."

"Shut up!" Kagome yelled. "He died to save me!"

"You are quite attractive once you have been riled up," Naraku leered. "However, Inuyasha's move was foolish when we came to this world. He should have never protected you Kagome-chan, for then he would be the one learning the techniques your  _precious_  Kazekage has been so generous enough to let you learn. He would be, but that still does not prove the fact that each time he looked at you he did not see Kikyo standing in your place. I bet this—"

Kagome watched as the stream of fire engulfed the spot her enemy had previously stood. However, she cursed under her breath when she realized that he was standing twenty or so feet away from where her fire had hit.

Naraku chuckled at the attempt. "How long, little miko? Tell me, how long will you be able to continue this until finally you are out of what they call  _chakra_  in this world?"

"I won't give up," Kagome snarled. "Not until you are either dead or help has arrived."

"Soon, I take it?" Naraku chuckled again. "Where do you get this urge to fight me, Kagome-chan? You could be standing at my side, happy with my minions to call your  _friends_ , and crushing our opponents with a swing of our hand. You could be living a life of luxury and greatness, yet you continue this little game, even when you know you're going to lose. Your precious redhead is not going to come and save you, Kagome-chan, you may as well give up."

She slipped a kunai from the pouch on her thigh, and sliced through the numerous tentacles that Naraku sent flying at her. She quickly held her breath, miasma filling the air around her, as she stopped her attack. She heard the slicing of air, and quickly moved to the left, the right, the left again, before deciding that she had had enough of playing his game and hurled herself out of the thick cloud of poison. Her deprived lungs were grateful once she inhaled the clean air, but her arm was throbbing at the hit it had taken.

"Why do you continue to fight, Kagome-chan?" Naraku asked. "I have seen the way you cling to this new male in your life, almost as if you're trying to find a replacement for the man who never loved you—"

"I'm not replacing anyone!" she yelled.

He laughed outright, his beautiful features darkening as he stared at her. "You do not see how quickly you are falling, do you little miko?" his question came out as a deadly hiss, his voice deepening in disgust. "You are using your precious Kazekage, yet you do not seem to realize something very,  _very_  important."

Kagome growled, and allowed her hands to move instinctively as she made the seals she needed. Then, she thrust her hand out, and the sand around her rumbled as it lifted and toppled in upon itself, growing, and shaping itself into a large dog. The creature snarled, or seemed to, before it lunged at its intended target, the hardened fangs tearing at the tentacles that went flying toward it, causing even more of the deadly poison that Naraku created to fill the air.

Naraku smirked at her attempt, "Are you trying to prove you're weak, or simply delay the truth I am about to tell you?"

"Nothing you say will ever be true," Kagome said. "All you've ever done is spat out false truths, lethal pacts, and deadly promises. You're a coward who runs, Naraku, but I won't let you run anymore. I'll kill you, and rid the world of your evil once and for all."

"Such brave words for a woman who knows she is lost," Naraku said. "In a way, you almost put Kikyo to shame."

Kagome moved back some more, the miasma spreading toward her as the sand-dog collapsed back into its original form. Her foot slipped a bit in the soft particles, her breathing coming out a little quicker, as she realized just how much chakra she had been using up so far. However, she had not been able to grasp genjutsu very well, and she would need to get around Naraku's defense of tentacles in order to defeat him with taijutsu. That left her with weapons and ninjutsu, both of which did not seem to be working at the moment, since he either blocked them, or spilled so much miasma into the air that she was forced to retreat even further away from the village.

"However, even that does not change the facts, Kagome-chan," Naraku smiled. His face, as beautiful as it was, simply did not look pleasant with such a tilt of his lips, as he stepped forward.

"Oh, and what is it you think you know so well, Naraku?" Kagome yelled above the suddenly increasing wind.

"No one will ever love you," Naraku stated. "You cling to this redhead you have found, yet you do not even realize how much heartache you are putting yourself up for. You do not even realize that he will  _never_  see you in the same light, just as Inuyasha never saw you in such a way. He is incapable of love; of caring, of even looking at you as you so wish him to."

Kagome paused, the words sinking into her brain. The constant name calling, the harsh words that flew, and the constant reminder of being weak from Inuyasha came rushing back. He had had his moments, but in the end he had always compared her to Kikyo. In the end, he had even asked her to tell Kikyo that he still loved her, that he wished that they could have had another chance. In the end, he had chosen—he had been  _incapable_  of loving her as she had wanted him to.

"I can give you what it is you want, Kagome-chan," Naraku continued. "I will not see you as some form of entertainment. Consider my offer, Kagome-chan. Stand by my side, and rule along with me. Be cared for, for more reasons than simply being a reincarnation or because you are different in such a small way. Come with me, stand by  _my_  side."

The sand shifted again without notice.

"Tell me, Kagome-chan," Naraku pressed, "do you honestly think he will ever even care for you? He merely wishes to have more power for his village, not some woman to stand by his side. He merely wishes to have you as his shinobi, to fight for him should his life be in danger, not care for you because you are a beautiful woman that has caught his eye. No, he will thrust you into the background, as his minion, waiting for one more worthy to come along.

"I, Kagome-chan," he smirked again, his eyes flashing, "I will not do such a thing. You will never be my minion, but the woman that stands by my side because you should. You  _should_  come with me, stand by my side. You  _should_  not allow your beauty to go to waste on a disturbed little boy simply because he took you in and taught you. You  _should_  see as I do."

Her eyes stared into his, her body not physically moving, but her mind falling as she found herself in that position. Standing at his side as the five great nations, and the smaller nations, fell beneath their rule. Standing by his side as he appreciated her beauty, but also her strength as she crushed her foes beneath her fingertips one-by-one. Rising to power, defeating those who stood in her way, and watching him as he stared deeply into her eyes, telling her he wanted her, would keep her, would love her.

Naraku's eyes widened, breaking contact with Kagome's, as he shifted his gaze to where the sand lifted and toppled away from the form rising out of the golden particles. He cursed his timing, and moved as the sand came crashing down upon him once more without even a word muttered by the other male. His eyes quickly snapped back to the woman breaking free of the genjutsu he had been learning quite well, and he growled. His plan would not be ruined, so he lunged toward her, dodging the sand, and went to grab her.

Sand rose around her, protecting her from his disgusting hands, as soft footsteps echoed into her ears. Kagome turned quickly, her eyes blinking rapidly as she tried to get the disturbing images of her cutting down her friends to leave her head. She sighed when she realized who was standing by her side, and bowed a bit, "Kazekage-sama."

He barely cast his eyes over her before he deemed her well, and turned back to the one who had taunted her and driven her so far away from his watchful eye. He had been told many stories when he decided to listen of the being Naraku, and it was not hard for him to piece together that this creature before him was that half-breed. The dark-haired male quickly moved back, his white cloak held tightly between his fingers, as blood dripped from where the sand had penetrated his flesh. "Naraku," he stated calmly.

"Bastard," Naraku hissed.

Kagome's hands went to move once more, but stopped when the Kazekage sent her a small glare. She obeyed his wishes, since she knew he wanted her to save the rest of her chakra at the moment, and turned to glare at her enemy.

"So," Naraku finally sneered, "you are the precious Gaara that has allowed the miko to learn under his wing?"

"I am," Gaara replied. "Not that the knowledge concerns you." With a small amount of concentration, the sand moved once more around them, chasing after Naraku as the half-breed moved. This was his element; there was no doubt in his mind that the being plaguing Kagome's thoughts and nightmares would soon be dead. Naraku simply had nowhere to go, nowhere that he could hide at the moment in order to hide from the sand that became so deadly under his control.

Naraku snarled, and sent out a barrage of spiked tentacles that stopped the sand's path for a single moment—a moment that allowed him his escape into the sky. His barrier, much weaker in this new world and harder to control or create, surrounded his form, and he moved into the air. His form returned to that of completely human, as he sneered down at the miko protected by her precious Kazekage—it was disgusting seeing her almost completely behind his back. "I will be back," he hissed. "Do not think that you will win so easily next time, Gaara, for the miko will be  _mine_."

Gaara's eyes narrowed, watching as the ball surrounding Naraku darkened in color and swept into the sky away from sight. However, the sand rose around them like a dome as a cloud of miasma came rushing down upon them. It sizzled into the dome he had created, moved through any small holes it could find, but he was not concerned at the small amount.

Kagome frowned, and quickly reached into her pouch once more. She did not know why she had not used them before when she had confronted Naraku, Sango had given her the masks long before she and Inuyasha had been separated from them. However, she did not think about that as she tied one around her face, and with her face down held out the other to the male standing in front of her as he turned to face her. She was actually quite surprised when he took it, but did not say anything as he secured it.

"Are you injured?" Gaara suddenly asked.

She shook her head, "No, Kazekage-sama. I merely need rest to restore my chakra to one hundred percent."

His eyes narrowed, looking at the blood that stained her left sleeve. It was damp, meaning that it was recent, and something that he had not caught sight of when he had first looked her over. "You will go to one of the medics when we return to the village for you arm," he ordered. He saw that she clutched it with her other hand and nodded quickly. Obviously she was hiding the discomfort that it caused her, for whatever reason she had.

Kagome watched as the dome surrounding them folded back on itself, and then collapsed back into mounds upon the sand. She had always been fascinated with how easily he controlled the golden particles, but even more so with the fact that he had a demon sealed inside of him. Of course, he did not need to know that she knew that, but she had noticed how he seemed to stare a little longer at her whenever she was in his presence, almost like he expected her to walk away, whether in disgust or indifference.

The sand lifted suddenly, forming a platform that Kagome had only seen a few times before. She smiled at the form of transportation, happy that she would not have to walk back to the village, since she was not quite sure just how far Naraku had pushed her away. Kagome was slightly surprised, however, when she realized that Gaara had reached out his hand to assist her in climbing atop the platform he had created, and then even more so when he pressed her shoulder until she sat in front of him. She looked up, and noticed instantly that he seemed to be frowning at her arm, before the platform shifted forward, and her gaze moved to the land before them.

A small smile appeared on her face, though, for Naraku was wrong. Gaara may be incapable of loving her, as she knew she wanted him to, but he was not incapable of caring. He showed it differently, but he cared, and that, at the moment, was enough for her, since there was a chance that it could become more.

_-Fin_

* * *

 


End file.
